Two lists came out this week and Thailand did not fare too well on either.  The US Priority Watch List for Intellectual Property has kept Thailand on the list again this year.  This did not sit well with the Thai Government.

Prime Minister Abhisit

The Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot states in an article from the Bangkok Post:

“Thailand has been serious about suppressing products that violate intellectual property rights and has put it on the national agenda, to show the country’s sincerity in addressing the problem,” Mr Alongkorn said.

What a crock of shit.

You can go to any shopping mall in the entire country and find bootleg software and DVD movies.  This is not just in Pattaya, Phuket, and all over Bangkok (Patpong, Silom, Sukhumvit, Pantip Plaza, Mah Boon Krong), but also in Hua Hin and Khon Kaen.

And it is not like it is hidden away and you need to know the secret knock or handshake to have access.  Most of the pirated software and movies are in plain view every single day on almost every single sidewalk in the  Kingdom.

If you are too lazy to go out shopping, the vendors will come to you while you are eating in a restaurant or having a drink in a bar.

If the Thai Police take any action at all, it is the form of arresting some peon and making a big deal about it by fining him a couple hundred baht.  He will be right back out the next day (or later the same day) doing the same thing.

This sums it all up:

The US report says that Thailand has “shown a continuing commitment to improving protection and enforcement,” but has “failed to make substantial progress.”

All form, no substance.

The other list that Thailand made shows how the country has seriously deteriorated over the past couple of years.

This is from a separate article in the Bangkok Post:

Thailand’s press freedom status has been downgraded from “partly free” to “not free”, according to a study by the Washington-based Freedom House, a leading US human rights organisation.

Thailand dropped on this list from 124th to 138th.  Thailand is now classified at the same level, not free, as Cambodia (3 spots away at 141).

Continued censorship of the airwaves and the Internet are the primary reasons for the drop on the Freedom List.

You can download the Thailand assessment here.

With elections in Thailand right around the corner, I hope the Thai people look at the current Prime Minister and assess what has been accomplished in the 2 1/2 years since he was appointed Prime Minister.

Along with the above, we witnessed riots in 2009 and 2010, border clashes with Cambodia, daily scandals and government corruption, and continued unrest and daily killings in the Southern provinces.

Not much has changed since former Prime Minister Thaksin was ousted in 2006.

What will the upcoming elections bring?  More of the same.  Empty promises, more corruption, no change in the South, and most likely Thailand will drop further down the lists.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/FotN/Thailand2011.pdf.